Prepare for Bioterrorism Attack, Military Doctor Warns
Source: The National Post
February 19, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO - A U.S. Army expert in biological warfare
is urging Washington to prepare for a bioterrorism attack that he says
is inevitable and could unleash a silent killer such as smallpox,
anthrax or the plague on an unsuspecting public.
"We need more of a sense of urgency about this," said
Colonel Edward Eitzen, a doctor and bio-weapons specialist at the U.S.
Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Biological warfare is the "ultimate weapon" since the
first sign of attack would likely be sick or dying people showing up
at doctors’ offices and hospital emergency rooms, he told the annual
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He said the pathogens that would be released in a
bioterrorism attack are relatively cheap, accessible and easy to
conceal.
Col. Eitzen said terrorists could even willingly infect
themselves with smallpox and walk around a city, knowingly infecting
people for 14 days before symptoms developed.
Public health staff and medical doctors need to be
educated about the threat, warned Dr. Margaret Hamburg, who recently
stepped down as a bio-weapons advisor to the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services.
One big concern is that a disease such as smallpox or
anthrax could spread for days before the epidemic is noticed. Most
emergency rooms and physicians, Dr. Hamburg said, have never seen a
case of smallpox or anthrax and some of the deadly diseases have
flu-like symptoms in the early stages.
While U.S. government agencies are working with
researchers to devise a response, the doctors urge scientists to
impress on politicians the need to take the threat more seriously.
They also want to see disease surveillance and testing
systems expanded so more labs can identify suspicious microbes within
hours.
Col. Eitzen said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
recently ordered production of new smallpox vaccine, but it will take
four years to produce. When the vaccine becomes available, he said,
governments might want to renew discussions about who should be
vaccinated, as military personnel and doctors are no longer routinely
required to get the shots.
He also said the military medical staff has been cut
significantly in recent years and is hard-pressed to keep up with its
workload. Meanwhile, bioweapons may also be used to attack the brain.
"Biotechnology will give us the capability to manipulate
all of the life processes including cognition," said Dr. Matthew
Meselson, a geneticist at Harvard University.
"It’s different from previous technologies in that it
has the potential of changing people, not just destroying them."
The threat is still theoretical, he said, but "profound
advances in biology" such as deciphering the human genome that spells
out some of the biological controls of life could make it possible.
"Over time surely we will be able to manipulate all life
processes, including cognition, emotions, reproduction, heredity and
development," he said.
by Margaret Munro
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